St. Paul ready to pass the test against Chaminade
How good is the St. Paul High School football team?
The Swordsmen, who have opened the 2011 season with five consecutive victories, are about to find out.
St. Paul, ranked No. 1 in the CIF-Southern Section Western Division, begins Mission League play Friday when it travels to No. 2 Chaminade, which is 4-1 and coming off arguably the biggest victory in its history.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in West Hills.
"This one really counts," St. Paul coach Marijon Ancich said. "They compete against some of the best teams in Southern California. They are really athletic and fast.
"The only headache is, can we get everyone ready to go?"
That's the big question for the Swordsmen, who've looked pretty good in scoring victories over La Mirada (24-7), Norwalk (48-6), Garfield (31-8), Ayala (30-27) and Schurr (28-6), but the strength of their team - the running game - has been dented in recent weeks, with fullback David Cabral and tailback Michael Ortega down with ankle injuries.
Cabral, who rushed for more than 800 yards last season, is expected to be back at full strength. Ortega, who rushed for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns against Ayala, hurt his ankle early against Schurr last week. He's expected to practice this week and be ready for Friday.
"We have guys bruised up a bit," Ancich said, "but we definitely need them this week. Right now, everyone is good to go, but we don't know what happens when they get hit. We're crossing our fingers."
The task at hand will be difficult. The host Eagles, led by quarterback Logan Scott, have looked impressive, with their only loss being 31-14 to Pac-5 Division stalwart Alemany. Chaminade rallied for a 36-32 victory over Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks last week.
"It's going to be exciting," Ancich said. "It's going to be tough, and we need everyone to play their best."
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About this blog
Steve Ramirez is the prep sports editor for the Whittier Daily News.
I wanted to see St Paul play before commenting. I just saw the entire Chaminade game on IBN Sports. Wow, I can imagine how pathetic the teams St Paul beat to go 5-0 were. St Paul is small, slow, and just an inferior team. I really don't think that they have a clue about real socal football. Chaminade looked pretty good, and I would say on the same level as La Habra, but I think LH beats Chaminade by about 10.
St Paul, you need to just shut up already because you guys really are not very good. The facts are the facts, and at least you guys can now realize that you really are not that good.
LaHabra and SJB are good teams but not so sure they would beat Chaminade. Those would be good games.
I would like to see Chaminade play either of those schools.
just the facts, the fact is that yeah no one in the freeway league BUT La Habra is on the same planet as Chaminade! St. Paul people just need to deal with it, you lost to a way more inferior opponent than LH did in losing to St. John Bosco! Bosco and LH would both be Chaminade plain and simple! Just saying the facts you guys don't wanna hear!
Well, the St. Paul - Chaminade game is in the books and the objective prognosticators proved to be right; the Swordsmen fell big-time to the Chaminade Eagles. If this is any indication, the anticipated St. Paul football rebirth just got drowned in the bathwater. We're sure to hear from the hordes of La Habra fans who no doubt love to see St. Paul take a dump like this, but they need to remember that Sunny Hills (or any of the lowly freeway league teams) is NOT on the same planet with Chaminade. The Highlander faithful still need to keep it zipped.
@ Whittier (I mean st.paul loser haha) I guess I was wrong about my prediction about the st.paul/Chaminade game! Sorry it's was only by 4 points I think my prediction earlier this week was 35-6! Haha come on atleast with LH they compete with the big boys when they play them and they didnt play d3 football!! They competed with d1 football the best in the state.. Say what you want about competing isn't winning... But u can't even compete in d3 so do the honorable thing and drop divisions so a deserving team like LH can play where they belong! Enough said..!
@steve ramirez.. I just wanted to wait to comment about cal hi after league started because the league championship is going thru La Serna and Santa fe in a couple of weeks!! And like I said before cal can't throw.. Going 5-5 as a varsity offense is pathetic they played a crappy team and it's only because they were shocked they dropped back to pass and someone is wide open down the field.!! They're passing league games this summer were hard to watch for anyone and I'm not a cal fan!! I think la habra and la sernas jv looked better!! They have no other choice but to run and once a team like la serna stops the run they will have nothing else..! And there in trouble big trouble just like Whittier was tonight! Haha There should be a lot changes in this weeks rankings that's for sure! Because now we see the true colors of all the teams around the area! And who they really are..
I know this is High School football, where seemingly anything can happen, but let's look at this St. Paul - Chaminade matchup from an OBJECTIVE angle, OK? Maxpreps rates teams nationally and statewide, and here's what they say about these two clubs: Chaminade, 242 nationally and 27 in state....St. Paul, 1422 nationally and 137 in state.
Then, we have the Calpreps projection. This well-known site picks Chaminade to win, 31-21.
Hmm...it looks like, despite all the hot air and high hopes, Chaminade is most likely to win the game, and this comes from IMPARTIAL, DISINTERESTED observers.
Nade is ready to put the smack down on the swordsmen.
To much size, speed, strength, smarts and teamwork in C town for St Paul to overcome. This one could get ugly real quick for St Paul. I only wish we could come to the Pit and smack those guys around in their own living room.
Well said St Paul BA...Our boys are ready to go with the exception of a couples of injuries...No excuses here, We will bring it tomorrow!
@Whittier football aka "A Fan"
Gtfo here already.. Notice there are NO LH blogs? Yea no one cares about you guys or that division. It's all about the big boy football now! Div 1,2,3.
St Paul 21
Chaminade 17
Haha, how I am going to love having you eat your words tomorrow night. I agree that tomorrow will be a serious test. But we are more than ready for that challenge. As you can see, the tough part of our season now begins, while yours is over and you skip through the rest of your season.
Nevertheless, I still wish you boys at LH the best in your season. We both represent the Whittier area. And not until we face eachother will we really know who the better team is.
O.K. Swordsmen, I hope you enjoyed your stay at #1 for this last week. Now that you are finally going to play a worthy team, you will see what real football is about.
Having a 5-0 record against weak teams is not impressive. So when you are 5-1 by 10 pm Friday night, let's see what you think about who is #1 in the area.